The Alliance of Measurement in Podcasting (AMP), a coalition of brands, creators, agencies, and podcast platforms including Spotify, has published a whitepaper proposing the definition of a podcast and new standards for exposure metrics and attribution.
The alliance, convened by advertising agency Oxford Road in July 2025 and led by CEO Dan Granger, aims to standardise podcast measurement now that the medium increasingly encompasses video. The proposed standards are intended to provide advertisers with a consistent way to measure podcasts, regardless of whether they are distributed via RSS or consumed on platforms such as Spotify or YouTube.
Launched at Oxford Road’s CAO Summit on 23 July, the whitepaper, titled AMP Accords, argues that inconsistent measurement is holding back advertiser investment. Oxford Road estimates that more than $1bn in advertising spend is “sitting on the sidelines in the short term” due to concerns over download metrics, media planning inconsistencies, or inadequate ROI measurement.
At the centre of the proposal is a new definition of a podcast: “If it works with your eyes closed, it’s a podcast.” It states that RSS distribution and video are included, but neither is required.
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Alongside the definition, the alliance proposes moving away from downloads as the default exposure metric in favour of a podcast play.
A play would be recorded once a user consumes at least 30 consecutive seconds of audio or video. The definition mirrors the metric introduced by Spotify last month, which said it had developed the standard through its work with AMP.
Unlike a play, a download does not indicate whether a user actually listened to an episode, and features like automatic downloads can inflate audience figures without any engagement.
AMP proposes that podcast plays sit alongside downloads as a companion metric for a transition period, allowing publishers to adopt the new metric without dramatically altering reported audience figures overnight.
The proposal also introduces two advertising metrics: an ad impression, counted whenever any portion of an ad airs for a user, and an ad audience, defined as the number of unique users exposed to an ad impression at least once.
The whitepaper’s final pillar focuses on attribution. AMP proposes using randomised holdout groups – similar to those used by Meta, Google, and Amazon – to measure advertising effectiveness. It argues that a standardised attribution framework would give advertisers greater confidence in podcast ROI.
To support this, AMP also calls for user-level consumption data at the segment level, arguing that it is necessary to accurately attribute advertising performance, particularly for baked-in ads like host reads.
Hannah Putnam, head of publishing and audio at Wavemaker UK, described the work as “vital”.
“By establishing a clear, experience-first definition of podcasts and shifting the standard from downloads to actual consumption (the 30-second play), they are bringing true clarity to the medium,” she told The Media Leader.
“As they have said, there will be short-term challenges, ensuring that everyone is on board, but implementing a robust attribution framework aligned with major ad platforms should boost advertiser confidence in the long run.”
The proposals are one of several industry efforts aimed at improving podcast measurement. The IAB Tech Lab published version 2.3 of its Podcast Technical Measurement Guidelines on 21 July, updating its guidance around video and replacing the term “listener” with “podcast consumer”.
The issue of audience measurement has also been raised by Goalhanger CEO Jack Davenport, who has previously argued that podcasting needs its own joint-industry currency, similar to Rajar for radio and Barb for TV.
Podcasting needs its own JIC – Jack Davenport, Goalhanger CEO
While two Spotify employees are members of the alliance, it is unclear whether other major platforms, including Apple Podcasts and YouTube, would adopt the framework.
The AMP itself acknowledge that cooperation from what it calls “major players” – podcast platforms accounting for more than 1% of all podcast plays – will be essential for their proposed metrics to work.
Other members of the AMP include Shopify, BetterHelp, DraftKings, United Talent Agency, FlightStory, Libsyn, SiriusXM Media, and Podscribe.
In his introduction to the whitepaper, Granger wrote:
One way or another, we need to settle on a workable plan, one that lets all of us do business with far less friction.”
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